A breathtaking game that a true gamer should not ignore. Its simply amazing that a game can be this good. 2 thumbs up.
Also, the stealth gameplay is done perfectly. 95% of games out there involving stealth really rub me the wrong way like fingernails on a chalkboard. This game really lets you play the thief or assassin and if an area is tough, merely use a special ability, item, or potion to become invisible.
I hate to voice another cliche' but if you haven't played an Morrowind or Oblivion, think GTA meets LOTR. You can steal horses, run rampant through the world, do whatever you want without ever playing one of the main missions. You can be noble and good or cunning and evil. I prefer a mixture of the two..... Well, I am the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood so being the head of a worldwide assassins organization makes me pretty evil. I'm also Grand Champion of the arena and Master Thief for the Gray Fox. Being the best fighter and best assassin in the world makes me pretty bad ass.
Now to nitpick. I love this game but I really miss the flying that Morrowind allowed. That was really fun to play around with. However, the upside is that whenever you are in a dungeon or city, if you can't get somewhere by jumping, there is nothing there too see. Also, they only let you train 5 times in any skill per level. I remember hording gold in Morrowind and just training 20 to 30 times in a skill, all in a row. But... these are both ultimately small and don't really do anything to spoil the game.
One warning; if you want this for PC, it will drain your graphics card. I've got 3.2 ghz, 2 gb of Ram, and an old Nvidia 5900 ultra. My video card is what makes the game go slow. However, the upside is with everything turned down, the graphics are still pretty darn good. The most frame rate lag I found was inside buildings where there are a lot of smaller objects, all solid physical objects in the game. The sound is incredible. When you hear bugs chirping at night, you feel like your in the woods near your house where you grew up. The last time sounds in a video game were that good was the first time I played Grand Theft Auto III and felt like I was standing on a street corner in Chicago.
If you are a RPG fan, get this game. If you aren't a FPS fan, get this game. If you are a gamer period, get this game.